To be fair, where the article states that Chinese companies are outbidding Western rivals it is in reference to the Chinese offering more to the company that developed the project when that company is forced to sell the asset.
They are literally outbidding in an auction scenario due to:
- Chinese State sponsored support.
- Western countries failing to factor in national security and provide similar support.
- Western rivals being unable or unwilling to increase their bid to win the asset.
- There being few legal avenues to prevent the explorer from selling to the highest bidder.
Where it mentions the Chinese skill in navigating corrupt countries, that's where it's referring to their bribery of officials and theft of projects through unforgivable shitfuckery that deserves to be punished. But punishment never comes because the Chinese eventually outbid Western parties and all legal action gets pushed under the rug.
In our case, how many of us will pursue justice to the end rather than saying "Fuck you KoBold, stick your insulting $1B offer up your arse" and "thank you Zijin let's do it again sometime for another $12B."